If you're thinking of joining It's Just Lunch, please read: Before I signed up for It's Just Lunch, I read reviews, some of which were really terrible. But, I thought, 'Hey, I'm successful and relatively good looking, so will likely have a much better experience than that.' I was very mistaken. This has been the most humiliating dating experience I've ever had. Things you should know before you join: YOU GO ON BLIND DATES. THE MATCHING PROCESS IS TERRIBLE. IT'S A WASTE OF MONEY. I paid $3200, PLUS $99 per month. In 9 months I had just 11 dates. I was not attracted to these dates, and I had little in common with them. One date was 16 years older than me! I was told there were lots of men in my area and if I had to travel the date would meet me half way. But, at times I would drive 1-1.5 hours and my dates would drive 5-15 minutes. After a couple months I was called by a service called Elite Singles (a subsidiary of IJL) who said there was a lot of positive feedback from my dates and recommended I move to their service. The Elite Singles service offered to go out to social events and find men for me to date. They sent me pictures of multiple very good looking and successful men that I could meet through Elite Singles. The price for Elite Singles? $30,000. Yes, you read that correctly - $30,000. I'm left with the conclusion this was a total scam - $4,000 for a completely humiliating dating experience. For a mere $26,000 more, I could get what I thought I was getting with It's Just Lunch. I write this review to try to save others money and a miserable experience. read more

This is my second membership. I was not really satisfied with my first membership, and was leery of re-signing up after the matchmaker called because I was a former client. She assured me there were a lot of matches and she understood why my first membership wasn't that successful. After 4 months and 4 matches, I am more dissatisfied this time. I had to call and complain to get matched, and felt I was matched on age and with hard to match men. One match mentioned he had been set up with the same woman twice (it didn't work out either time). I was told, it takes a long time and I need to patient, (while I continue to pay each month of course). It was inferred I was too picky and the men were wonderful. It was also incredibly hard to cancel the membership. It took 3 phone calls, where the hard sell was turned on. Don't waste your money! In response to the IJL reply:I did not specify any socio-economic requirements assuming I'd be matched with more people. How is narrowing my requirement to preferring white collar matches withholding information? My request should have reduced the number of available matches, not changed them to a different group. Since you were having trouble matching me to more than one person a month, why did you not set me up with white collar matches since I did not specify socio-economic class? read more

While I came in very optimistic about the experience of a personal match maker, since then I have taken 4 months off, and am just at a year with the service with a much more pessimistic outlook. The matches do not seem to get better with time, in fact, my most recent match seemed like it was just needing to get the required once a month date in the contract than anything. Overall, I plan on sticking with it until I reach 12 months (4 more months) active status, but I don't really expect results since the first 8 were so disappointing. I'll be honest the only reason I am sticking around that long is that I tried online dating for 5 years, and this slightly better so I figure a year is worth a shot. For the high costs, the results are not as expected. If I were to make a suggestion, I would say to make the enrollment cost much lower to lower the barriers to membership, then maybe there may be the variety as advertised. read more

Less than ONE star if I could... years ago I Googled IJL. Filled in general info, then briefly talked with Jen... Once I FINALLY got her to tell me how much (then threw up in my mouth a little) I told her to go away, I'm not interested! Well fast forward 4, 5, 6 YEARS and I'm STILL getting calls "hi, it's Jen from IJL...." STOP CALLING ME! read more

I went into this thinking that I'm a career driven single mother and need help finding great men. With the price I paid I was hand selected a pool of men that were not at all what I was looking for. One was a quadriplegic, another was blind,another had cerebral palsy. And not to day they were not nice but not at all what I was looking for. So I'm paying for a service, I'm paying for childcare,and I'm paying for a night out. Not once was a date set up over lunch ever. Not worth the money, the waste of time,or the lies. Don't sign up!! read more

After reading through the website and not seeing and detailed information about how the service works, or the cost, I decided to call in to get more information. I like to have all of the facts before I make decisions, and I like to have time to think things through. The staff person I talked to was so kind, bubbly, and encouraging. She told me that I was a doll, and had several guys she could already see me with. I directly asked her how much the different plans cost, and she directly avoided the question. It came out later in a quick breath in between two other unrelated sentences. $2,400 for 6 months, or $3,600 for 12 months (I think). She promised to set me up with 2-3 dates a month. I told her that I wasn't sure I was wanting to invest in this type of service just yet, and she ignored my statement and pushed for a phone interview the next day. I told her I didn't want to waster her time, but would look through my budget and see if I really wanted to commit to it. She called again the next day, all excited to talk with me. When I told her that I had decided to not move forward just yet, she couldn't get off of the phone quick enough. She was rude, and very vocal about her disappointment in me as a potential client. I almost felt bad when I got off of the call, which is not how a potential customer should be feeling. I can't speak to how the actual dating goes, but I was very disappointed with interactions I had with a senior level staff person. I can't say I'd be excited to call them again when/if I have money to burn. read more

Don't do it - the grass is not greener here. It IS much more expensive and you get treated poorly for the cost. Go read the Better Business Bureau complaints and think hard before signing up. I signed up with them after a heavy sales pitch. It was very expensive. Reading my contract I saw they auto-enroll you in monthly dues after the initial dating period. Nobody ever mentioned that - it was hidden. The contract said to email to cancel. I called the saleswoman I'd just shared very personal information with for two hours and asked her to cancel the auto-enrollment. She told me she did. I asked if I had to send anything in, she said no, it was cancelled. My dating preferences were not respected and every match was poor. After the first two dates, the customer service from IJL disappeared. When I would call to give feedback, the only thing the office wanted to hear was whether we'd traded numbers. My concerns over the match quality were ignored. The staff routinely stretched the truth (to the point of lying, I felt) about who my matches were. It was not unusual for me to get to a date, say "So I hear you're an engineer" and have them say "No, I do construction." I was set up with very religious people, one who was out of the state most of the year, one who'd just broken up with a long-term relationship the month before, and others who did not fit my matching criteria. Each time, the mismatch was deliberately hidden or glossed over by the staff. If you're busy and cannot get to the phone easily, prepare to be disappointed. They don't tell you until after you sign up that they can't email or text you anything about a date (not even a date, time and location) - it all has to be on the phone. Tell me a service for busy professionals that can only communicate in one way? It's voicemail hell. I think they do it so they don't have anything in writing. Fast forward to the end of my dating period. They've been charging me monthly dues and refuse to give me a refund - they never had anything in writing from me and don't have a record that the salesperson cancelled me last year. After telling me they'd waive the 45 day cancellation notice (over the phone) they then charge me for it anyway and reiterate the policy in writing. Talk about scamming vulnerable people. read more

I would gladly recommend IJL to anyone who is looking to meet someone establish a relationship. I really like the way the matchmakers would listen to my feedback and incorporate that into my future dates. I would definitely use IJL again if I ever find myself back in the dating scene. read more

Don't do it! It's very expensive! Women pay double what men pay (several men told me what they paid). 7 dates in 5 months. No second dates. The staff spins everything you question about their service and match skills to be about you. I'm so disappointed and out thousands $$$! read more

It's Just Lunch was not at all what they sold themselves to be. The matches made were far less appealing than could be found on Tinder any given night. I don't know why a profile is filled out ...as interest, age , and even the request of not dating someone with children was totally ignored. Their response was ,it really doesn't matter because he is a great guy. It does matter and you implied that was used for matches! When a complaint was filed it was totally ignored. First out of the office, then "vacation", finally after 3 weeks... That's too bad we will try again. It NEVER improved!!! Be smart... Keep your money and go shopping, you will have a far better night! How would this be in Yelp. read more

Do not join. These people are con I joined in 8/2016 and paid 2600$ and then they charged me 98$ for monthly fee. They had one match ( better say Missmatch!) for me so far. I really believe the place is con and should be referred to MN attorney General for deceitful practice. read more

I signed up for 6 months and they indicated I'd have 2 dates/month, or 12 total. I actually had 10 dates, only 2 I liked enough to see again but neither worked out. Date quality widely varied and I suspect you are just dating whoever is next on their list, which one of my dates was convinced of. After each date you have to call in with feedback, but you are never given any feedback others give of you. The biggest disappointment was when I wanted to end the service after the original 6 months, instead of continuing on their monthly plan. Their response was very rude and she continued to try to aggressively sell me on the continuing plan. I had to give 45 days notice to cancel the continuing subscription, so still during my original 6 months, but after giving notice she had no incentive to provide further matches. It has been a couple months and she continues to call me on a regular basis to see if I'm ready to date again. Ironically, at times I hear more from her now than when I was actually paying her. read more

I decided to "invest" in this service a few years back because I was serious about finding a true relationship. My opinion? They set me up with several men who were "serial daters," some had been "members" of It's Just lunch" for months or years, and they just wanted to have a new woman to be seen around town with. I was so angry I called the regional office and HQ asking for my money back. After several attempts and no concessions from them except to find more dates for me, I gave up. Don't spend your money here. read more

Don't waste your time or money. A total complete RIPOFF!! So completely disappointed to say the least.

Daters Beware! I truly believe this is a scam. I'm so sad after investing a good deal of money to have left every single date more discouraged than the date before. I honestly could have picked someone off the street who would have been a better match. All matches were WAY out of my age range and we had nothing in common. The match makers are polite on the phone, but polite is all they are. They talk around in circles.... If I could rate this business zero stars, I would! read more

The bad reviews here are the same as my own experience. The interview is nothing but a pack of lies and they have very few men to choose from. I had heard it's expensive, but signed up because I liked the idea of saving time by letting a dating company introduce me to potential partners. I wanted to believe what they were saying, that they had alot of men in my age group (40+), although she couldn't give me any data or figures. I was skeptical but naive and went ahead and paid the fees. I then realized they had virtually no one for me. In fact according to some of my male dates, IJL has so few men, they gave steep discounts to them. I suspect IJL members are primarily very attractive successful and cool women and they don't have alot of men. I should have realized they'll accept anyone's money because the quality of the match got worse and worse. I'm a very attractive woman, who was just looking for a good man, not Brad Pitt or CEO of a Fortune 500 company. I realized IJL didn't have the goods so I didn't even bother to accept their last two "perfect matches". I told them never to call me again. Of course, they continued to call until I threatend to call the Better Business Burueau and the State Attorney General's office about possible fraud. Money and time down the drain, but since then, am happy to have met good men through MN Rovers and otherwise networking. read more

I truly never review companies but this was such an EXTREME waste of money and awful customer service. I've never had such awkward dates in my life- they don't take the time to get to know you and seemingly don't care what you are looking for they just match up. If I could rate a zero I would DO NOT WASTE YOUR MONEY! read more

It's Just Lunch compromised my safety on my second date. When I had my initial phone interview, Samantha reassured me that if they didn't feel they could match me my money would be refunded and we'd go our separate ways. I was sent on my first date with a decent guy but he definitely wasant a great match. I then spent the following 7+ days reaching out trying to figure out when I'd have more matches. Finally, I received a match- D. He was supposed to be wonderful and a great match. I've NEVER felt so UNSAFE or FEARED a date more than I did on this one. D completely snapped and turned into another person verbally attacking twice. This was so significant that I asked the hostess to watch him because he was scaring me and I sent my roommate a text with details of where I was "in case". That night I sent the matchmakers an email with the horrible details. I was contacted the next day and told we'd "get back on track". Meanwhile, I'd sent Samantha an email asking that she take no more money until we spoke. They IGNORED this email and pulled more money. I followed up with Samantha and advised of the initial conversation about going our ways if they couldn't match. I said I'd like a refund because I didn't trust their process as they'd failed to vet out this guy. I can do far better selecting people myself. I was told NO REFUNDS REGARDLESS. I WENT ON TWO DATES- ONE I FEARED FOR MY SAFETY FOR $2600. DO NOT IN ANY WAY TRUST THIS COMPANY. ALSO PLEASE ASK ABOUT MEN PAYING LESS. I KNOW FOR A FACT THAT THEY NEED MEN SO BADLY THAT THEY ACCEPT LESS MONEY FOR THEIR SERVICES. This company is a FRAUD. read more

It's Just Lunch Minneapolis is lacking in integrity and honesty. Their claim to find out your interests and match you appropriately is a joke. The person I had my intake interview scheduled with was absent the day of our interview and I had a brief 10 minute superficial chat with who ever was available. They were adept at not answering questions such as what is your ratio of men to women. They made it sound like it was equal but the men I dated said there were a lot more women available and they got more dates. But even though they got more dates, several of the men expressed disappointment in appropriate matches for them. They get their money up front and offer no guarantees except "an average of one date a month." I signed up for 6 months for $2,200 which worked out to be $360 per date. The first day after signing up, they told me about 3 men they had lined up for me. They then found 2 more in the next 3 months but no date for the last 2.5 months although they had told me there were "working on it". When my contract was about to expire, I asked what was going on and was told my contract was going to expire so they were not going to match me. I reminded them that they were not fullfilling their contract obligations so they did find one more match. One of the men they matched me with had dated a friend of mine through Match.Com so you are better off staying with the Online match sights such as Plenty of Fish, Our Time, Match and E Harmony which are much cheaper. If you don't have the time to review the profiles, pay a friend to do this. Has to be less than $360 per date. And don't forget to read your contract as when it is up, they will continue to charge your credit card $139 a month until you give them a 45 day cancellation notice. Ms Wiser minus $2200 read more

It's Just Lunch, Minneapolis, MN, has very bad service. I would never recommend the service to anyone. I also have impression that the matchmaker there is racist. I am not white American, My service charge seems significantly more expensive than other people, $4,200! I started out had phone conversation with Samantha. I told her specifically what I like and not like, as well I specifically told her I do not prefer too much older man, not older than 50. She first matched me with a 55 year old-man. I was very clear to her that I lived out 2.5 hr away from Minneapolis, but willing to travel in once or twice a month to meet with my date, as long as she matches me with someone worth my effort. She promised me she will accommodate the best to fit my schedule. I paid $4,200. The entire process was like a joke, never had effective communication. When I told one person something, especially about my schedule, the new person picked up what left off and totally misunderstood everything . I had to repeat myself more than twice, before my need and communication gets across, especially with my schedule. How would you said this is first class service. I never have personal interview with Samantha. I wrote letter to cancel my membership after 2 day of signing contract, according to the written agreement. Samantha will not let me cancel my membership and insist me to go on second date, which was not good and was everything I don't want. I want to cancel after 1 month of trial, they will not even give me back some of my money. read more

About 18-24 months ago, I made the call that Rebecca R. made in 2014. I spoke to a woman who seemed genuinely nice. Couldn't remember her name now cause it has been some time but I was turned off by this company after that call alone. Don't get me wrong, the concept of matchmaking in theory sounds great. More hands on than the online dating medium and if the right people are doing the matchmaking, probably could be successful. I've read enough of this company's BBB (Better Bus. Bureau) complaints to know they always stand by some stated comment like "20+ years in business...." . Duration does not necessitate good quality. From what it sounds like, they seem to be a "racket" and they have some kind of ironclad contract--based on the complaints on the BBB site. When I discussed the cost which I believe was that $2100-2400 range that Rebecca and Micki (as of earlier this year said) mentioned. They talked about the number of dates you get and I posed some hypothetical questions: For instance: If you get 15 dates over 6 months or whatever for $2400, and say the third date you have in the first month or so is fantastic, you start dating exclusively and so forth---you can put your account on hold. Sounds solid right? Yep...so I asked well, if you get to say a year down the road, you get engaged to that person or married even--what then? Yes, you were successful matching me up, but you for damn sure didn't do $2400 worth of matchmaking service so I asked if you get a prorated refund---NOPE. You can "transfer" your account to a friend/family member, etc. I laughed at that. I love my family and friends, but the ones that are single would A-Not want to do this and B-I don't usually give $2,000 gifts to my buddies for the heck of it. I think that money would be better spent on oh the wedding, honeymoon, etc. The woman that helped me was married and I asked her to put herself in my shoes, if that happened to her husband (if they would have met in the identical situation I described above), would she rather have that $1800-2000 to spend on themselves for say an all inclusive trip to an island, Mexico or something....she gave what I consider a pretty BS answer--"i'd be happy that he found me and I think he should be happy his $2100-2400 investment was successful in meeting his future wife". I laughed pretty hard at that one. Obviously, her lack of empathy and reasoning led me to go nowhere near my credit union or my credit card to pay for this "service". It is a RACKET---ironclad contracts prohibiting any refunds prorated or not, lack of understanding of people, and lets be honest here, look at the picture of the group photo of this company. In a time where equality is a major factor in even the political realm of this country, you can't find some men to be involved in the "matchmaking"? Maybe someone with a degree in understanding people....Sociology, Psychology, etc. I bet the backgrounds on the majority of the employees are "Communications, Business, Advertising, Marketing, etc." if they all have college degrees. And I think Micki C mentioned that there are more men in this program than women, which I don't doubt one bit. Look at the women in this picture? Have anything in common other than being professional looking women? I am guessing many men find the women pretty fetching and they are probably good at SELLING the idea of "matchmaking" as a service and they are good at it? You know what would be a better selling point, some fantastic customer service, some guarantees other than "minimums"--if they are as confident as they say, then guarantee satisfaction whether that means the "matches" fit a majority of a checklist that each customer picks out. Money back guarantees with the minimums and meeting certain characteristics that the parties want (whether it is height, build, profession, education, location, material--like has a vehicle/owns over renting--, is not married, criminal background is clean, race, anything that can be objectively determined essentially). There are SOOOO many more ways to improve the "matchmaking" experience and/or make customers happy. As someone from a Sociology background who can appreciate and understand statistics, I would LOVE to see the stats for a company like this. Number of "successful marriages" in some lame statement from one of the managers is misleading, the stats I would love to know is how many people signed up, how many people were married, the number of dates it took the successful daters to find that one. There are more categories and numbers, but it is getting late. From what I've experienced with this company and the background I did, I find it less than desirable. For the ladies that want to try this service, feel free to separate yourself from what sounds like $3300, I would just suggest that you keep your money, keep an open mind and by all means just approach someone at the grocery store, bar, etc. More than likely, you'll find someone. read more